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Monthly Archives: February 2017

Every February we volunteer at the Fleetwood Beer Festival, we really enjoyed our three days serving beers from the bars and we met some lovely people too. This journal page is all about the amazing beers that we tasted. It was very difficult to choose our favourites this year, because there were so many that we really enjoyed.

I started by painting broken stripes of Liquitex acrylic paint vertically down the page. Next I added small splatters of diluted Spectrum Aqua markers by scribbling the ink on an acrylic block, spritzing it with water and then flicking the ink onto the page with a paintbrush. I chose Gold, Amber and Black coloured markers to represent the different shades of beer we tried. I stamped a faint grid design around the edges of the page, to add some texture, using a homemade stamp and black Archival Ink. I stencilled embossing ink using a distressed dot mask by Creative Expressions and then I covered the ink with a white embossing powder and used my heat gun to fix it to the page. This depicts the froth or “head” that forms on the top of the beer when you pour it. I collaged beer related images and words from magazines and our tasting notes using a UHU Stic to stick them to the page and outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more from the background.

I really like this information about glasses; we tend to drink from tankards/mugs when we are working behind the bar at the festival, as they help keep the beer cooler.

The snippets from our own tasting notes show our five favourite beers of the festival.

At the festival there were over 125 real ales, ciders, perries and world beers. We worked on the bar serving the cask real ale, some of which were on hand pumps. We tasted many beers and added our comments to the tasting notes so we could recommend beers to others; there was something for everybody whether your taste preference is fruity, coffee, chocolate, hoppy, citrus, floral, ginger, honey, treacle and we even had some that were a little like lager.

I just managed to get a photo of the beer and Subway Club sandwich we had in one of our breaks. My beer preference tends to be the darker coloured beer and I have to say the Spilt Milk (spelt wrong in the tasting notes) really did taste like chocolate milk. My hubby tends to like the paler beers and amber bitters and was not disappointed as they had one of our old favourites by Harvey’s brewey in Sussex. As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

By the end of the festival many of our favourite beers had sold out, I’m not sure if it was because we were recommending them or because we were drinking them – we didn’t drink all the Harvey’s Old Ale, honest (grin!)

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)

Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Gold, Amber, Black)

Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)

Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)

Dovecraft Premium Embossing Stamp Pad (Clear)

Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque DP100 50727)

Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)

Many of my friend’s birthdays are in February and March, so I currently find myself busy making birthday cards. I often like some of my card designs so much that I create a larger version in my art journal too. Here is one of those pages and I’m sending those of you who are celebrating your birthday this time of year – Happy Birthday Wishes!

The background was created exactly the same way as my card by using Festive Berries and Abandoned Coral Distress Inks. I blotted the ink pad directly on an acrylic block, spritzed it with water, and then I pressed the block or dripped the ink onto my page. I wanted a mottled effect so I built up the layers of colour gradually. As I had more space on my journal page, I also concentrated the colour on the right hand side of the page fading to white on the left. I then sectioned my page using masking tape and I stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft and Serpentine Background stamp by Art Impressions using black Archival Ink, alternating the designs. This masking technique also worked really well on the card and it was a fun technique to try. Again I made sure the stamping faded out as it reached the right hand side of the page to leave white space. I added some torn cherry blossom card to the edges of the page using Winsor & Newton Matt Gel to stick it down. This card is from a luxury topper set called Eastern Promise by Hunkydory. I also fussy cut the lanterns from the same card and stuck them down using double-sided foam tape. The gold flowers are outline stickers and the circles with various oriental style images are from the same topper set, which I attached using double-sided tape. I added little gold butterflies, blue gemstones and the name of my friend and her birth date to finish the page.

With the shades of red I used for the background, I’m pleased to be able to join this month’s theme of “Fifty Shades of Red” being hosted by Linda over at Art Journal Journey.

At this point I was hoping to show you my inspiration; the thing is, I forgot to take a photo of my original card – oops! So to give you an idea, here’s another card I made which looks very similar, although I used a totally different colour palette. In actual fact, my journal page stayed true to my original card design; as well as using my friend’s favourite colours of red and coral, I used the same background stamp designs and masking technique, the same gold flowers and butterflies, similar lantern topper decorations and gemstones, and the lovely cherry blossom card was used to create the interior of the birthday card.

For another friend, who lives locally, I made a birthday cake too; it’s a Victoria sponge filled with strawberry jam and butter cream then covered in sugar paste fondant icing, all of which is homemade, and the little daisy flowers are edible wafers. It was so funny when I delivered it as her hubby answered the door, he really loves cake and his eyes lit up when he saw the box. So I’m not really sure how much cake she got to eat herself (grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

On Valentine’s Day we went to see the snowdrops at Lytham Hall. It was a beautiful sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely walk through the very impressive displays of snowdrops. I created this page to remember their beauty.

The background is Spectrum Aqua Markers, I scribbled the ink on an acrylic block, and then I spritzed it with water and pressed it or dripped it onto my page. The colours I used portray the yellow sunshine, blue sky, the lush green foliage and the rusty-brown leaves that surrounded the snowdrops. To add texture I splattered the page with black acrylic paint, stamped a homemade grid stamp using black Archival Ink and a small texture stamp using a Moss Aqua marker. I also added a fine outline of swirls using a Swoosh Mica Mask by Creative Expressions, a white Uniball gel pen and the Moss and Olive Aqua markers. As the snowdrops were flowering under the trees, I stamped a tree image using black Archival Ink and then I added more branches to them using a Derwent Graphik marker. The words are rub-on transfers which I thought were poignant to the page; to me the snowdrops seem to “aspire” to display their beauty and be something I could only “dream” of. Lastly they reminded me of a poem by William Wordsworth where he writes about having “faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes”.

If you are interested in the poem, it’s called “Lines Written in Early Spring”; it was published in 1798 and yet it seems as pertinent today as it did then.

I cut the snowdrop pictures and information from an old magazine and a Lytham Hall Events Guide. They are mounted on silver corrugated card which I edged with a silver metallic pen and stuck to the page using double-sided tape.

The snowdrops are made from this silver daisy shaped outline sticker; I cut the flower in half to produce snowdrop shapes and secured them to the page. I then outlined the image with a Derwent Graphik marker to give more definition and coloured the petals using white gesso. The leaves, stems and little dot on the petals are coloured green using the Moss Aqua marker. To finish I covered the petals in Ranger Glossy Accents to give them dimension and a lovely glow; I think they look a bit like stained glass.

I thought you might like to join me on our walk to see the beautiful snowdrops. These little clumps of snowdrops greeted us when we entered the grounds of Lytham Hall by the side entrance. You may remember Lytham Hall from my Winter Art Fair post.

As we turned the corner, the snowdrops literally carpeted the woodland floor, sitting in the dappled shade in all their white splendour!

Then we entered the walled garden, where the flower beds were brimming with snowdrops too.

At the front of the house it looked like it had been snowing with the drifts of snowdrops glistening in the sunshine. As my hubby and me both enjoy photography, we were interested in the frames that had been put up around the walk. They indicate where a good shot can be taken and of course you can use them to frame your subject too.

Following the woodland path we stopped to take in more pretty views . The snowdrops look so dainty with their white and green bell-shaped blooms.

I hope you enjoyed the walk as much as we did – I was amazed, there were snowdrops everywhere and the displays were stunning!

As a special Valentine’s treat and to continue the white theme, we went to our local bakery and bought two of the biggest Vanilla Slices I have ever seen! To give you an idea of their size, that’s a standard tea plate they are sitting on. These are filled with a lemony custard and when we got home we enjoyed them (very much) with a mug of green tea – they were so delicious! As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my treat with the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

This time of year my thoughts are filled with fond memories of my hubby’s dad who passed away in February 2011 and those who loved him so dearly (my hubby and M, his widow) – they are always in my heart!

I started by creating my own decoupage paper using stamps, black Archival Ink and tissue paper. First I selected white and brown tissue paper and stamped them with a music sheet stamp and a script stamp respectfully. I chose these stamps to represent music and reading which are two past times my hubby’s dad loved; in fact me and hubby often listen to some of his favourite songs. I also stamped a small heart outline and the words “beautiful” and “lovely” onto white tissue paper as well as a series of images on the brown tissue paper; some of which are from a new Steampunk stamp set that M very kindly bought me for Christmas, I think they give the page a lovely vintage look and feel.

I used my papers along with torn pieces of star tissue paper, dictionary pages, music and script pages from a magazine part work to create my background. They are stuck down using a UHU Stic and Liquitex matte gel medium. As you can see I selected the dictionary pages that defined Love and Valentine as this page is dedicated to those I love. The hearts are red tissue paper and they are stuck to the page using the same gel medium. I really like the way it melts into the page so that the detail underneath shows through. When the gel medium had dried I outlined the heart with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with a baby wipe to give a worn look. I added more detail and definition to the hearts using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen. I also highlighted the top right hand side of each heart using Docrafts white pigment ink, which I applied using a baby wipe.

To make my sentiment, I fussy cut a banner from a chalkboard tag and made it longer, so it would fit the heart, by inserting another piece of card in the middle and cutting it to shape. I continued the white outline and dots along the additional piece using a gel pen to mask the joins. Next I stuck white tissue paper over the top of red tissue paper and stamped the sentiment on top using black Archival Ink. I stuck it to the banner and when it had thoroughly dried I added a border with a black Uni Pin marker. To continue the vintage look, I scrapped the tissue paper around the sentiment using a craft knife to reveal the red tissue paper and black card underneath and then I covered it with a thin layer of matte gel medium to hold everything in position. I placed the banner over one of the hearts using double-sided foam tape which finished my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join Linda over at Art Journal Journey and her very apt theme for February of “Fifty Shades of Red”.

I have very happy and cherished memories of my father-in-law, he was a very down to earth, straight talking person and a gentleman in every sense of the word. He’d do anything for you and he used to tease me terribly about my height (I’m five foot nothing). I couldn’t help but love him and I’m so pleased his memory lives on always in my heart!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

With the recent Chinese New Year, our new Thai cookery books and shopping at an Asian supermarket, I was inspired to create this page.

The background is painted using Distress Ink which I applied like watercolour using a paintbrush and diluting the ink with water on an acrylic block. I was amazed by the texture I achieved just with my painting and I think the vibrancy of the colours ties into the Asian theme too. Next I stamped ink from a Terracotta Spectrum Aqua marker using a Kaisercraft stamp, which merged with the background because Distress Inks are reactivated when they become wet, which I like. Next I tore pieces of black and gold card from the Eastern Promise themed topper pack from Hunkydory and edged them with a gold metallic marker, and then stuck them to the page with double-sided foam tape. I also added butterflies which I punched out of the same card using a Tonic Studios Simplicity punch. The oriental style dream tag, birds and red sun, flowers and butterflies are stickers by Penny Black. I really like the transparency of the stickers and added some shadow around them with an Aqua marker then doodled around them using a black Uni Pin marker to add further definition. The gold lines, flowers and dots are outline stickers which I outlined with a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. To finish I added some green rhinestones to add extra sparkle.

We love cooking and eating Chinese and Indian food and as we enjoyed our visit to The Giggling Squid Thai restaurant so much, we bought a couple of Thai cookbooks to add to our growing cookbook collection. Of course that meant a trip to our local Asian supermarket to stock up on ingredients as most of them cannot be found in our regular store. This included Thai basil, galangal, shrimp paste, chilli bean paste and a variety of curry pastes for our new Thai recipes, black beans and oyster sauce for our Chinese cooking and creamed coconut for our Thai and Indian curries.

Before you enter the Supermarket itself, you are greeted with a lovely array of fruit and veg. We always stock up on fresh herbs, Cyprus potatoes and fruit – this time we treated ourselves to lychee, yum!

The shelves are full of goodies, this is the spice section where we bought our Kaffir Lime Leaves for our Thai recipes and on opposite side of the aisle are all the nuts and dried fruits.

They have a wide range of tea and coffee, we always buy our favourite Chinese Gunpowder Green Tea.

Here is the green tea in our glass teapot from Japan, it makes two mugs of tea, just enough for hubby and me. As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T day!

This page is one of my hubby’s favourites and I am very pleased about that because I was thinking of him when I was creating it, he loves the colour red and also The Beatles – it’s called Love, Love, Love.

I started by painting the background red using Liquitex acrylic paint, leaving patches of white where the mixed media paper was showing through. Once the paint had dried, I doodled some circles and lines using a black Uni Pin pen. Then I covered parts of the page with layers of Pébéo white gesso and then red acrylic paint, using a palette knife. When I had finished applying the paint I ran the knife over the surface of the page which transferred the different colours and gave a lovely worn look to my background. I applied black acrylic paint using the edge of an old plastic gift card in lines around the page, then by dragging the paint into the centre of the page I created triangular saw-tooth shapes. To create the hearts for my love theme, I covered card with paper from a Design Pad and cut out a heart shape. I chose a paper printed with framed photographs to depict our favourite Beatle’s songs which are about life, people and love. Then I edged them with black Distress Ink using a blending tool and added the “love” wording using a stamp and Archival Ink. To tie the heart design into the background, I also stamped the “love” wording across the page using black Archival Ink and white Docrafts Ink. Next I arranged the rose garland around the hearts, securing the wire on the back with tape and the little roses using Ranger Glossy Accents. Before I attached the hearts to the page using double-sided foam tape, I painted white gesso where they were to be positioned and doodled with a black Uni Pin to frame them. To finish I stamped the words “Love” three times, doodled some wavy lines using a Uni Pin and added a length of the rose garland to the bottom of the page, securing the roses with Ranger Glossy Accents.

We love going to Liverpool and the famous Cavern Club is always on our list of places to visit, and is synonymous with The Beatles. It’s free entry, during the day and you can enjoy a drink and sit down while listening to someone signing Beatles songs – magic!

The Beatles murals created by the entrance are wonderful with the bright and vibrant colours. A John Lennon bronze statue stands opposite the club alongside brickwork paying tribute to all those who have played at the Cavern Club.

It’s a lovely atmosphere inside, there is a lot to see and Beatle’s music is played by a selection of artists to the very appreciative audience.

My inspiration for this page was an image of a lovely Spanish lady that I saw in a local advertising booklet.

I started by diluting Desert Spectrum Aqua marker ink and two Distress Inks onto an acrylic block with water and flicking them onto the page using a paint brush. Next I added more red Distress Ink using a homemade polystyrene stamp, and then I used a doily stamp with red Memento Ink and also a serpentine background stamp using black Archival Ink. Using the same two inks I layered more images and patterns this time using stamps of a music sheet, a scroll heart and rose, a single stemmed rose and a pretty rose border.

For the picture, I cut an oval piece of music sheet from a Spanish song called “La Paloma” (the dove) by Yradier and stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic. As you can see I made sure I included the word Spanish and the name of the composer. I then edged the oval with a black frame which is a sticker.The Spanish lady is from an advertisement I saw in a booklet, and as you can see only the top half of the dress was included on the advert, so I got creative and created the bottom half myself. Luckily I had kept many copies of the booklets, so I cut the dress sleeves and bodices out and designed a flowing skirt for her dress and then some shoes. It was a bit fiddly cutting the pieces out and arranging them but I think it worked really well and she looks like she is dancing along to the music while playing her maracas. I added further detail to the dress using a Derwent Graphik marker to make the pieces flow together. To finish I added the red and gold gems to the page which reminded me of the colours of the Spanish flag.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m keeping with the Spanish theme and sharing a sangria with you – Happy T Day! You may remember Bleubeard and Elizabeth sharing a journal page on Boston with us recently, so I thought I would share the sangria I had from Joe’s American Bar on Newbury Street when I visited Boston. Although you can’t tell from the photo I’d say it was as big as a goldfish bowl – it was so delicious and very welcome after a day of sightseeing and shopping!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page: